Molecular alignment from circular dichroic photoelectron angular distributions in (n+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization

The theory for determination of molecular alignment from circular dichroism in photoelectron angular distributions is generalized to treat the case in which the excitation polarization direction and the laboratory z axis do not coincide. A new method of data analysis is presented here. Alignment created by surface scattering or photofragmentation should be obtainable by these procedures. For studies of orientation with elliptically polarized excitation, differential cross sections at a given collection angle are found to be, to a good approximation, independent of excited-state alignment. Orientation can thus be obtained from differential cross sections by the methods developed by Kummel, Sitz, and Zare [J. Chem. Phys. 88, 6707 (1988)].